Lifestyle - The Korea Times

ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL Korea Times is part of my life, says avid reader

By Kang Hyun-kyungLee Bock-hee has played a role as an honorary goodwill ambassador of The Korea Times unwittingly for the past decade.Lee, vice president of the non-profit group Seoul International Women's Association (SIWA), was once a “need-driven” reader of the newspaper in 1982 when she entered college. Like other college students of her time, she read it to improve her English. Her purpose, however, has changed since 2012 when she assumed the chair of SIWA's Charity Committee responsible for the annual bazaar to raise money to help those in need.Lee Bock-hee, vice chairperson of Seoul International Women's Association / Courtesy of Lee Bock-heeTo work closely with other SIWA members who are from Korea and around the world, she had to know what was going on not only in the nation but also in the foreign community. Lee became an avid Korea Times reader reading the paper for news, rather than for English. “The Korea Times has long been part of my daily routine,” Lee said during a recent phone interview. “Back in 2012, I looked into SIWA archives to le

Oct 26, 2020By Kang Hyun-kyung

[ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL] Korea Times is part of my life, says avid reader

ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL The Korea Times offers global perspectives for Navy officer

Kevin O'Rourke, priest who won first Ph.D in Korean literature, dies

Kevin Laurence O'Rourke Courtesy of Kyung Hee UniversityBy Park Ji-wonKevin Laurence O'Rourke, an Irish Catholic priest and scholar who has translated more than 2,000 Korean literary works into English, died on Friday. He was 81.Born in Cavan, Ireland, in 1939, he became a priest in 1963 and started serving as an assistant priest at Soyangro Catholic Church in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province.While serving his duty, he took an interest in Korean culture and literature and ended up becoming the first foreigner to receive a doctorate in Korean literature from a Korean university. He obtained a Ph.D. in Korean literature from Yonsei University in 1982 and taught at Kyung Hee University from 1977 to 2005.He translated multiple famous Korean poems, novels and other literary works which include Choi In-hun's novel “The Square,” Lee Mun-yol's novel “Our Twisted Hero,” So Chong-ju's poem collection book “Poems of a wanderer: selected poems of Midang So Chong-ju” and Yi Sang's “Wings : Volume 091.” Not only translating modern literatures, he also put

Oct 25, 2020By Park Ji-won

Kevin O'Rourke, priest who won first Ph.D in Korean literature, dies

Odd one out in literary circle

Poet Kim Yi-deum / Courtesy of Kim Yi-deum'NTA win tells me it's okay to be different,' says poet By Kang Hyun-kyungKim Yi-deum, whose translated poetry won the 2020 National Translation Award (NTA) of the American Literary Translators' Association (ALTA), considers herself the odd one out in Korean literary circles. Unlike other Korean poets, she said her poetic style is free, crude and decadent. In a society where being different is deemed as something akin to a problem or a flaw, Kim has been compared with other poets who write “decent, ethical” works. Some conservative critics harshly criticize her for her unique writing style. Being undervalued among local critics and domestic readers was one reason why she was so surprised when her poem “Hysteria” was honored by the NTA last Friday.“It was a nice surprise. I was in disbelief,” she told The Korea Times over the phone Friday after winning the award. Her voice and tone still portrayed excitement, although hours had passed since the victorious moment.“I felt like a little girl born out

Oct 20, 2020By Kang Hyun-kyung

Sociologist rus bookstore in memory of late parents

Nho Myung-woo, a sociology professor at Ajou University and owner of Bookshop Nieun, poses at his bookstore in Seoul in this undated photo. / Courtesy of KL PublishingBusiness loss continues, yet manageable says founderBy Park Ji-wonIt was just fanciful thinking years ago when Nho Myung-woo, a sociology professor at Ajou University, first considered opening a bookstore. In the digital era, bookstores are a waning business and Nho already had a full-time job. Preparing lectures and teaching students required him to invest a lot of time and energy, and finding the time to devote to an unprofitable business was not on his mind. One day in April 2018, however, he decided to write on social media, asking if people thought he should open an independent bookstore. Over 700 people liked the post. Boosted by the encouraging reaction from social media users, Nho went ahead with the experiment and opened a bookstore five months later. Bookshop Nieun is tucked away in Seoul's western district of Eunpyeong-gu. It's a 10-minute walk from Yeonsinnae Subway Station. The small bookstore has around 1

Oct 18, 2020By Park Ji-won

Sociologist rus bookstore in memory of late parents

South Korean poetry 'Hysteria' wins US translation award

By Kang Hyun-kyungPoetry “Hysteria” written by Kim Yi-deum, translated by Jake Levine, Seo So-eun and Choi HedgieThe South Korean poetry work “Hysteria” has won the 2020 National Translation Award (NTA) presented by the American Literary Translators Association (ALTA). Written by poet Kim Yi-deum, the volume was translated by Jake Levine, Seo So-eun and Choi Hedgie.On its website announcing this year's winner Thursday, ALTA said Kim's “Hysteria” is an “intriguing and illuminating volume.”“One of the co-translators of this good-humored and confrontations book notes in his afterword that the style of Korean poet Kim Yi-deum is intentionally excessive… and irrational,” it said. “Her speaker is a hipster who makes brash statements about quotidian experiences that may occur in any crowded city…. Yi-deum turns her glance on her specifically Korean milieu as well.”Levine is an American translator, poet and scholar and works as an assistant professor of creative writing at Keimyung University. Seo is a poet

Oct 16, 2020By Kang Hyun-kyung

South Korean poetry 'Hysteria' wins US translation award

Bad blood brewing: Two authors at odds over Korea's colonial past

Novelist Jo Jung-rae during a news conference to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his literary debut at the Press Center in central Seoul on Monday / YonhapFamed novelist's irritated reaction to 'pro-Japan' Koreans explained By Kang Hyun-kyungJo Jung-rae, author of million-seller “Arirang” (1994), had caused the public to raise their eyebrows earlier this week for his sweeping hostile description of Koreans who had lived in Japan as overseas students. The award-winning novelist called all of them “Japan sympathizers.”Jo, 77, called for the reestablishment of the taskforce named the Special Investigation Committee of Anti-National Activities that was initially set up in 1948 to investigate Koreans who had cooperated with the Japanese Empire during the colonial period, calling for a purge of some 1.5 million Japan sympathizers in Korea. “People who studied in Japan are doomed to become pro-Japanese. They become traitors. Some call them 'homegrown Japanese pirates'…,” he said during a news conference to commemorate the 50th anniversary of hi

Oct 14, 2020By Kang Hyun-kyung

Bad blood brewing: Two authors at odds over Korea's colonial past

Seoul International Book Fair to be held for 10 days from Friday

By Park Ji-wonPoster for the Seoul International Book Fair 2020 with Son Heung-min as ambassador of the eventThe annual Seoul International Book Fair (SIBF) 2020 will be held for 10 days, starting Friday. It will also be streamed online all throughout the event. Various book seminar and exhibitions on current issues such as COVID-19, gender and the environment will be held in bookstores and art spaces in Seoul on the sidelines.Under the theme “XYZ: Entanglement,” which has been postponed once due to the pandemic, 198 publishers will participate in book exhibitions with 280 books exhibited online and 800 books on show in physical locations, while some 200 authors will take part in discussions and lectures in some 40 programs, some of which will be released on YouTube.The Korean Publishers Association, the organizer of the event, said “This year's SIBF seeks to offer an experience that traverses the online and offline worlds with books as intermediaries that connect the two worlds ... (the theme) will bring them face to face with diverse contemporary topics including

Oct 14, 2020By Park Ji-won

Seoul International Book Fair to be held for 10 days from Friday

Winners and losers of 'V-nomics'

Kim Nan-do, a professor of consumer studies at Seoul National University (SNU), poses during an online press conference to promote his new book “Trend Korea 2021,” Tuesday. Courtesy of Miraebook PublishingBest-selling author unveils consumer trend outlook for 2021By Park Ji-wonCover image for “Trend Korea 2021”Kim Nan-do, a professor of consumer studies at Seoul National University (SNU), and his team at the SNU Consumer Trend Research Institute, has unveiled his “Trend Korea 2021,” an annual consumption trend outlook report that gives companies insights into business opportunities, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.Kim said it is inevitable that the economy will continue to suffer the consequences from the COVID-19 pandemic next year. One of the fallouts will be economic polarization which will result in what he calls a K-shaped recovery ― characterizing it as “V-nomics.” Kim combined the words “virus” and “economics” to create a singular new word here in Korea that expresses how he thinks the entire economy will be he

Oct 14, 2020By Park Ji-won

'Star Trek' writer releases book about King Sejong the Great

By Kwak Yeon-sooThe book cover of the historical fantasy novel “King Sejong the Great” / Courtesy of FitBookJoe Menosky, a writer who has worked on four TV series of the sci-fi franchise “Star Trek,” has released a history fantasy novel titled “King Sejong the Great” that revolves around the fourth king of the 1392-1910 Joseon Kingdom. This is the first time a non-Korean writer has contributed a work of fiction on King Sejong.Both English-language and Korean-language editions were published on Hangeul Day on Oct. 9, which commemorates the promulgation of Hangeul in 1446.The story is based on King Sejong, who reigned 1418-1450, and his lifelong mission of inventing Hangeul, the writing system for the Korean language, which eventually promoted the literacy level of the general public.In “King Sejong the Great,” the king is described as a wise ruler who forms friendships with his servants who oppose his governing policies and as a humble sovereign who shows respect even to his palace gatekeepers. Menosky first learned about King Sejong whe

Oct 9, 2020By Kwak Yeon-soo

'Star Trek' writer releases book about King Sejong the Great

American poet Louise Gluck wins Nobel Literature Prize

Louise Gluck / EPA-YonhapThe Nobel Prize for literature was awarded to American poet Louise Gluck on Thursday "for her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal."The prize was announced in Stockholm by Mats Malm, the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy.New York-born Gluck, 77, who is a professor of English at Yale University, made her debut in 1968 with "Firstborn," and "was soon acclaimed as one of the most prominent poets in American contemporary literature," the Nobel Academy said.Her poetry is "characterized by a striving for clarity," often focusing on childhood and family life, and close relationship with parents and siblings, it said.It noted her 2006 collection "Averno," calling it "masterly" and "a visionary interpretation of the myth of Persephone's descent into hell in the captivity of Hades, the god of death."The award, which includes a 10 million kronor (more than $1.1 million) prize, comes after several years of controversy and scandal for the world's pre-eminent literary accolade.In 2018 the award was postponed after

Oct 8, 2020

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